68-year-old bus monitor bullied by kids; fundraiser for her at $150,000 and counting

Thursday

Jun 21, 2012 at 12:01 AMJun 21, 2012 at 9:16 PM

A fundraiser for harassed Greece bus monitor Karen Klein, a video of whom went viral Tuesday, raised over $150,000 in less than 24 hours. The fundraiser's $5,000 goal was to send her on vacation.

James Battaglia

An online fundraiser for harassed Greece, N.Y., bus monitor Karen Klein, a video of whom went viral Tuesday, raised over $150,000 in less than 24 hours. The fundraiser's $5,000 goal was to send her on vacation.

The CEO and founder of the fundraiser's website says this is one of the fastest campaigns it has handled, and it's accomplishing a few things.

“I can only imagine what it will be like for her ... but at the end of the day what is even better than her vacation or her salary is the fact that all these people are galvanizing to talk about the issue. So at the end of the day it's having a broader impact,” says Slava Rubin.

The money will be a huge blessing for Klein who at 68 years old would love to go on a cruise but says that she might just retire.

“People care and you don't think that they would,” Klein said when asked what all the gifts and mementos meant to her.

Klein woke up Tuesday morning thankful school was out and thinking it would be a typical day.

“It's almost like I'm in a dream or nightmare, let's put it that way,” she said.

But in a matter of hours, her life changed -- all because of a video posted online.

The video on YouTube shows kids on a bus calling Klein a "troll," threatening to deface her property, making fun of her weight, referencing suicide, asking her why there is “water” on her crying face and more.

Klein is a 23-year veteran bus driver and now bus monitor. The videos capture what happened Monday on her last day of school.

The video was originally posted to a student's Facebook page. Someone found it there and copied it to YouTube, "TO SHOW THE WORLD HOW ••••ED UP KIDS ARE."

It gained attention on the popular website Reddit, where it was posted late Tuesday night to a forum with nearly 1.5 million readers. As of Wednesday morning, the original post had over 2,000 comments. Internet sleuths discovered the students' names and two similar videos, one titled "Bus Monitor Harrasement," the other, "Bus Monitor Harrasement 2." These videos contain "not safe for work" language.

Reddit users posted contact information for the local school district and media outlets, and Greece school officials woke up to hundreds of phone calls and emails about it.

As people in Rochester and worldwide respond to the video, it's Klein's calm manner that has touched hearts. Flowers came in all day Tuesday, some from people she doesn't even know.

“It's scary getting all this attention,” Klein says.

— Includes reporting from WHEC.com

SEE A VIDEO REPORT ON THE INCIDENT (the bad language is censored in this video)